Catching Snowflakes
by Forgotten Muse
Summary: Fleetway, postSA2. A short, cute drabble inspired by recent weather. There is no place for a shadow in the snow…


TITLE: 'Catching snowflakes'

AUTHOR: Thalia Evans

RATING: G

DISCLAIMER: All the characters are © to their respective owners. (Sega/Egmont Fleetway/ Whoever) Don't sue me. Student. Skint.

SPOILERS: Set a few fics in the future, but no real spoilers.

PAIRINGS: No slash, no het, no nothing. Sorry. (bye-bye, readers…. Meh)

SUMMARY: Fleetway/post-SA2. A short, cute drabble inspired by recent weather. There is no place for a shadow in the snow…

WARNINGS: Careful you don't fall in a plothole.

TIMELINE: Takes place some time after STC #184, 'Origin: Earth', and SA2

* * *

"Catching Snowflakes"

Thalia Evans 2005

A/N just a little drabble…. Set off in the future somewhere, hence references to fanfics I haven't written yet….

(characters except Shade Phoenix © Sega/Fleetway/whoever, writing is mine, don't steal.)

* * *

The formerly Emerald hills were now white.

It was the first winter he had spent in the normally green zone. Shadow knew that the whiteness, which the others were running about in for no purpose he could see, was snow. He knew about snow, how it formed and where, and thought it mildly interesting that it would fall in a zone that had been so tropically warm in the summer.

But to actually be _in_ the snow…

_Maria wouldn't have liked it, _he thought. _It's too cold._

His blue-black fur and his fast metabolism kept him warm in most weather. It was probably similar for Sonic, and Miles had more than his fair share of insulating fur. So all the running and shouting couldn't be an effort to keep warm… a third Mobian stood slightly apart, watching amusedly, and the chill didn't seem to bother him either. Shadow couldn't fathom it.

Irritated, he turned away from the noisy group and gazed at the expanse of pristine snow blanketing the zone. It did have a kind of visual appeal, although the brightness made him feel exposed. The only shadows were soft, pale and blue. There was no chance of him fading out of sight as he usually did, unless he wanted to _bury_ himself in the stuff- which he wasn't going to do, because one of the drawbacks of having fur was that it took forever to dry out after a soaking.

Where they did soak through, the flakes felt strange- not like rain at all. One velvety ear twitched as another little spot of coldness worked its way down to skin.

Red eyes blinked as an odd curiosity came over him.

_Hm, I wonder what…?_

He hesitated to make sure no one was watching, and cautiously poked out his tongue…

And jerked as something hard, heavy and cold slammed into the back of his head-

He whipped around with a growl in the back of his throat, instinctively tensing for an attack.

The three Mobians stared at him. Shadow blinked again, bewildered, and felt among his spines with a gloved hand. Crumbling chunks of white fell to the ground.

"What are you _doing?"_ he looked first at the small fox, then at Sonic.

"It's called 'having fun', stripes." The blue hedgehog had a grin that said it all. "Not that you'd know what that is. Lighten up, will you?"

Shadow frowned.

"You know, chill out. Relax. Smile for once. Stop being so flipping miserable," Sonic looked mildly exasperated. "Actually, I was aiming at _him_."

A brown hedgehog raised his eyebrows. "Then you're losing it. That missed by a mile."

"I'll take your glasses off with the next one, Shade." He smirked evilly, and lobbed another hard-packed snowball which the target, somehow, just managed to dodge.

"Hey! I'll get you for that—" Shade ducked down to scoop a handful of snow.

"…children…" Shadow watched all this for a moment, then shook his head and turned back to the more peaceful view. But a bit of pink tongue flicked out again. The snowflake landed on his nose instead, making him sneeze.

The hedgehog put his tongue away, and decided he didn't really like snow. He was designed for night and stealth, not this bright, white landscape. His scarlet-and-black markings stood out like a beacon, and his footprints were easily followed. And if the snow was deep enough to leave footprints in, it was also deep enough to hinder his movement. It made him wary, putting all his senses on edge.

An orange shape moved to stand in front of him, blocking the view.

"Miles?"

"Shadow, I keep telling you… my name's _Tails._" He tutted. "Why don't you join in with us?"

"'Cause he's too busy moping. As per usual. -Ack! Cut it out, cyclops boy!"

The black hedgehog looked over his shoulder at Sonic, who was being thoroughly pelted with snowy missiles.

"You shouldn't have stopped dodging, then." Shade seemed to be enjoying himself almost too much, despite having to focus his gaze on chaotic sources like the other two hedgehogs. Perhaps the cold was helping. He paused to wipe his glasses free of flakes, and gave Shadow one of his quick sideways glances. "This is the first time you've seen snow, isn't it?"

A slow nod. "I have seen… pictures…"

The fox smiled. "You've never seen real snow before? All the more reason to enjoy it."

"Doesn't know the meaning of the word…" Sonic muttered, snorting.

A little bemused, Shadow took in the carpet of glittering white again. He was silent for a while, then said quietly: "There is no place for a shadow here…"

Tails was as confused as the rest of them. He followed the hedgehog's gaze and tried to remember the first time _he_ had seen snow. "It's just different, that's all. You'll get used to it."

"All this is still very new to me…" he murmured, uncomfortably shaking himself to dislodge a build-up of freezing flakes.

The pause that followed ended abruptly as Shade got a snowball firmly in the ear. The fox attempted to deflect the one thrown at him with one of his tails, but only succeeded in making the projectile explode all over him. He took it with a grin, and retaliated immediately.

Shadow watched the three Mobians play. They looked happy, and not that he was any judge, more alive. He couldn't discern any _point_ to the exercise, but… it just seemed to help them somehow. After everything that had happened, in some way they needed this… even if he couldn't figure out why.

_There doesn't seem to be a point to my continued existence either. I served my purpose… so why…?_

He tilted his head to one side a little, feeling that curiosity start to grow again. No… this time it was more of a longing. Something was missing in him, and he began to feel it more acutely.

But he still remained aloof from the others, unsure. Like the snow, that feeling was relatively new to him and he wasn't sure what to make of it yet.

After a while, Sonic called him over. "Hey, stripey! Me and Tails are gonna head back. Race you?"

Red eyes narrowed. "No," he replied bluntly. "Another time, perhaps."

The blue hedgehog smirked. "Scared of getting beaten again?"

"I think he's more worried about ruining your reputation." Shade chuckled, and paid no attention to the deadly glare Sonic gave him.

Shadow glowered.

_I am not making that mistake twice. _He shifted his feet in the ankle-deep snow, _Especially not in this._ Right now his former adversary would wipe the floor with him. Shadow was confident that given a little time, he would match and perhaps beat Sonic's speed. The truth was neither of them had regained their full strength yet, but Sonic had the edge in that Shadow's specially-built hoverskates had been destroyed, so now he had to get used to _running_ as opposed to _gliding._ He refused to race Sonic until he had.

_Another new skill to learn. Plus, _he thought suddenly, …_my feet are going numb. Interesting…_

"Chicken," Sonic's smirk widened. The dark hedgehog chose to ignore him.

The young fox turned and flicked his tails, lifting him into the air as he prepared to follow Sonic; the effect was as if Shadow was standing in front of a fan, the propeller motion spraying him with powdery snow from head to foot.

For a few moments a pair of ruby eyes stared balefully out of a white mask.

Then: "I think you did that on purpose."

Tails gave him a 'who, me?' look, but his shoulders trembled from a suppressed laugh.

"That," Shadow continued evenly, "was not a good idea."

He brought a hand out from behind his back, and a snowball with it. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards in that rarest of things: a Shadow smirk. A particularly wicked one.

And everyone ran as if their lives depended on it.

* * *

Hehe. Shadow. He's just a big kid really. :P 


End file.
